


Never Again

by Rosage



Category: Dragalia Lost (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Wingman Botan, platonic fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 09:36:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19903603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosage/pseuds/Rosage
Summary: After Euden convinces Ieyasu to stop hiding things from Botan, she returns the favor.





	Never Again

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by Glitteringworlds <3

Botan finds Ieyasu in the Halidom armory, tending to his katana. She resists studying a gnarled axe to make a beeline for him. Nobody's around, assuming the ninja are guarding the door, so she ignores formality to plant her feet on the ground and her hands on her hips. At her stance, he sighs, though his lips twitch.

"Hello, Botan. Dare I ask why I am in trouble?"

"You know why I'm here, bucko."

He stiffens. He continues his work, his tone even. "I believe we have settled this."

"Nobody's settled anything! C’mon, you _have_ to tell him."

She doesn't need to clarify. This isn't the first time she's confronted him about his feelings for Euden—not that it's proper to do so, but if he cared, he could have abandoned her again. Her hands clench at the thought. She can't let him keep doing this, not to someone else, not to himself.

His gaze flickers to her before returning to his katana. "I cannot imagine my retainers agree."

"You can’t use them to weasel out. I already asked them. Addis says he trusts the prince's honor, and Sazanka likes his hospitality. You know they'd both clobber anyone who looked at you wrong."

"You all spoke of this?" His face flushes, a rare sight that makes her want to gloat. He sets down the katana and closes his eyes. When they open, they're as much like a still pond as ever. "In theory, a union between our nations could strengthen them. However, with the distance, and times being what they are—"

"Woah, hold on, who said anything about marrying the guy? You don't even know if he likes you back, remember?"

"Forgive me. I did not mean to imply he must. But with my position, I must think of Hinomoto above all. What would be the point of sacrificing my soul, only to waste everything on my heart?"

"Stop being an idiot! You already gave up your soul. Your life's gonna be shorter than others." Not wanting to give him an excuse to regret telling her, she refuses to lower her voice, but it raises in a squawk instead. "So what's the point in torturing yourself by thinking that far ahead?"

"Would it not be more torturous to pursue something pointless?"

"It's not _pointless_ , dummy! You said he brought you joy." Since that declaration, Ieyasu has only expressed it by staying near Euden, watching the stars with him and writing him poems he doesn’t seem to understand. From what the others say, Ieyasu could give an Alberian-style proposal without Euden understanding. But Botan does. When it comes to Ieyasu’s other feelings, Euden gets him in a way even Botan can’t. It fuels her when she strikes down fiends to protect Euden. "Don't you wanna make him happy, too?"

Ieyasu laces his fingers in his lap. "Do you truly think I can?"

"Not by moping in a storage room, you can't." Or by carrying that pain back to Hinomoto, stewing in yet more secrets. "Don't make anyone else chase you across the sea."

"While I admit he is more fiery than me, I am not sure even Euden is as stubborn as you, my friend."

"Takes one to know one," she says. She almost sticks out her tongue. Something about him makes her feel like a kid again, scrambling after him at the dojo. But this is too important for that. She takes a deep breath like Sazanka taught her. "Look, I just don't want you to be alone, okay?"

Left without room for a riposte, Ieyasu softens. "I am not alone. I have you, and Addis and Sazanka, and Marishiten. You are all my family. Without you, I could not carry my burdens."

"Yeah, well," Botan says, crossing her arms and looking around the room for answers. A blue spear and a set of curved daggers can't help her respond when he gets mushy. "What's the problem with letting the prince in, too? I'll carry a lot for you, but I'm not gonna carry feelings for him, so you two are gonna have to sort that out yourselves."

Ieyasu laughs, a sound Botan hates how much she missed. "That is fair enough. As the prince himself made me realize, I cannot shirk my responsibility to those I care for, or to my own heart."

She scratches her nose. "Just save the lovey-dovey stuff for him, okay?"

"As you say." He stands and sheathes his katana. "Thank you, Botan. I owe him a great deal, but most important was helping me remain your friend."

She fights back a sting in her eyes. "Duh, I'm the best," she says in an attempt to hide it, but she can't help grinning.


End file.
